I always wanted to try a HW97 in .177, after owning a TX200 in .22 the larger caliber springer isn't fast enough for my taste, I leave .22 and above for PCP's, that's just my personal experience. If you do buy a larger power springer with any kind of decent velocity it's too harsh to shoot and too much effort to cock. So back to the HW97 .177 I just purchased, mounted a Hawke 3-9 scope with two piece Sport Match mounts. Sighting in only took a couple of clicks to the left and elevation to my surprise was right on at 35 yards. So I started with several midweight pellets, gun really likes Crosman Premier 7.9g brown box, JSB Exact 7.87g and RWS Superdome 8.3g. Other pellets not bad but these three did the best. So next I chronied all three, the CP's were at 895, the JSB, 905 and the Superdomes 880 FPS. So, after shooting gun in I noticed groups opening up and checked stock screws, all were loose after less than 100 rounds, even trigger guard screws. So I snugged them up and accuracy returned, then again groups opened back up after 50 or so shots and screws loose again. So I did some research and read to use blue lock tight on screws but first harden the wood around stock screws with super glue, I used some Mercury Adhesive thin CA made in the USA of the highest quality, let dry, applied blue lock tight to screws, snugged everything back up and let sit overnight before shooting. So accuracy returned, screws remained tight and all looked good, then slowly after around 500 rounds groups opened back up but this time when I checked stock screws they were still tight. So I cleaned bore, wasn't bad at all, so I chronied gun again searching for the diminished accuracy and saw that the gun's velocity increased by 25 fps across the board. This thing is breaking in, now I have to either try some heavier ammo or tune the gun back a little.
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